


This holy shrine

by wefewwehappyfew



Series: Ghosts that we knew [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, brief encounters, decisions that will bring no good consecquences, fascinating relationships I wish we knew more about, historical settings because that is my jam, relationships that are in the it's complicated status
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 03:50:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9698696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wefewwehappyfew/pseuds/wefewwehappyfew
Summary: In which old acquaintances see each other again, and decisions are taken (even if a consensus is not reached)





	

**This Holy Shrine**

 

Each day that passes, Alfred, Earl of Mercia has less patience for the matters of Court and politics

To the point that he is even grateful that  it is his mother who takes care of all politics, all subtleties. He was never good at that.

No, he is a warrior, like his father was before him, proficient in both the use of spells and the sword. His parents saw to that, first offering him the best swordmasters and tutors, and  when he reached the appropriate age, sending him to Hogwarts, the great school their friend Lady Rowena had created along with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin, under whose tutorship Alfred himself learnt the most.

And he misses it. He would never admit it but he misses it so much it hurts. He misses the lessons, the duels, the times he was able to fly on the broom (the freedom he felt in those moments did indeed surpass riding a horse)…

But most of all, he misses _her_.

Helena, as beautiful as her namesake from the legend, of a laughter clear as crystal and the brightest wit of all Hogwarts. The only one he had ever loved.

_The only one he would ever love._

And yet, he had not seen her in years. He had sent her owls, and tokens of love, many. But she never replied, and  each absence was like a stab to his heart.

He tried to forget her, and yet he couldn’t.

So this is why his heart skips a beat when he sees her. Yes, her. In a carriage with her mother. In direction to his Great Hall, where his mother was probably taking care of the current business of the land.

( _Mother, why didn’t you tell me anything about this?_ )

She is surprised by this too, because she looks at him, wideeyed, and even turns to continue observing him while the carriage continues its way.

Alfred cannot help a smile.

“ _Helena_ …”

___

There is a part of Helena Ravenclaw that wants to scream.

Her mother promised. She _promised_ that they would not make a stop at Coventry.  And now she covers it up with excuses of wanting to visit an old friend and about how it would do Helena good to see Alfred again.

Of course, her mother, for all her wisdom, operated under the delusion that she wanted to see Alfred.

She doesn’t. Helena doesn’t want to see him and grant him again false hopes. It is cruel, and even if she has been said to be proud, and vain, and haughty,  cruel she is not.

She had burnt all the messages he sent, and donated the most valuable tokens to the poor. She wanted nothing to do with him, and she wants the same now.

It is not that she doesn’t love him. If she has ever experienced love of the romantic kind, it was with him.

But she doesn’t want to live the rest of her life under his shadow. She is already hard at work to free herself from her mother’s.

She won’t fall under another shadow. She will be her own self, not the daughter, of Rowena Ravenclaw, or the wife of any lord.

( _Not even Alfred, no matter how much you insist, mother._ )

She will choose knowledge.

She will choose _freedom_.

But then, she sees _him_ , while the carriage that is bringing her mother and her towards the Great Hall  makes its way through one of the main streets of Coventry.

She sees him and every sound is drowned by that of her own heartbeat. And she even has to turn to look at him, standing there as if struck by lightning, as the carriage continues its path.

Helena knows she will stand by her choice.

But, oh Merlin, she knows that it will _hurt_.

**Author's Note:**

> \- Title from Romeo and Juliet, act 1, scene 5. " If I profane with my unworthiest hand/This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:/My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand/To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
> 
> \- Nerd moment: I sort of place these two in the later years of the reign of William the Conqueror-reign of William Rufus. That, added to the fact that I headcanoned Alfred (my chosen name for the Baron) as the Earl of Mercia, makes him a fictional son of Lady Godiva (yes, she of the riding naked for no taxes fame)
> 
> \- Also, yes headcanon of Rowena Ravenclaw and Lady Godiva being friends.
> 
> \- Ok so this whole premise might be totally not-canon (But then again we barely know the basics of their story together), and probably the characterisation sucks but fictional characters in historical settings is kinda my jam and I reeeaaaaally wanted to try this before I go on a multi-chapter fic about Helena. (Or a plethora of drabbles about these two, whatever ends up striking my fancy)
> 
> \- Also the dynamic between these two would have been fascinating af to see (at least from what I headcanon)
> 
> \- (crossposted to my tumblr )


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